High Court rules migrants' data rights must be protected
We took the government to court and I'm delighted to let you know that the judge has ruled in our favour: from now on our data protection rights - and those of other migrants - must be protected under the law.
Picture this: while British citizens get to ask the Home Office which personal data it holds about them, as migrants we don't necessarily get all our data. In the process of applying for an immigration status, people’s solicitors having access to accurate data held by the Home Office about their clients is crucial. Many people who are refused initially are then granted status on appeal - and decisions can’t be properly challenged if evidence is not available to those bringing the challenge.
The immigration exemption can also be used to stop us as migrants objecting to our data being used for automated decision making, or being deleted. All without the Home Office having to spell out clearly in law that it is only restricting data rights when “strictly necessary and proportionate”, with appropriate minimum safeguards in place.
In 66% of data requests made by migrants, the Government refused to provide a full response - all this under the guise of "immigration control". By challenging the immigration exemption we are securing our right to data protection.
We’ve fought this battle since 2018 and even had to go back to court even after winning in 2021. Why? Because the government did not respect the court’s first ruling, which had instructed it to outline in legislation how it would apply the immigration exemption. Instead, the Home Office wrote up a guidance document, which can be changed without Parliamentary oversight.
We didn’t give up, we persevered and today we’ve won for a second time. Together with Open Rights Group, represented by Leigh Day, and supported by an intervention from the Information Commissioner, this is a victory for all migrants.
And we couldn’t have done it without you.
Together, we protected our rights and refused to allow the government to brush this under the rug.
This legal challenge has been made possible by people just like you. Funds pledged through CrowdJustice enabled our small team to persevere over the years. These funds protected us, in case we lost the case and had to cover the government’s legal fees.
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